MOVING AWAY & THEN WITHIN

The Siddhas are not teachers nor are there teachings. They show by practical means to the sole (soul) seeker who comes by, the way, the method, the practice, and the means. They are not known to assemble people or gather a large crowd in dispersing their well earn wisdom and divine knowledge or gnana. Having reached the zenith and summit, they do us a favor in bringing us to their abode. As Tavayogi says one should come on his own accord, this path is not for the masses.

If man seeks the Siddha teachings in institutions as in seeking academic knowledge, he will be disappointed. These places serve the sole purpose of bringing the knowledge of the past existence, lives, and nature of the Siddhas, to the masses. They bring the songs and literature of the Siddhas to their listeners. They teach yoga asanas and pranayama as adopted by the Siddhas. They hold Satsangs or discussions intended to open up our minds to things beyond our comprehension. That is as much as they can do. These institutions do not produce a Siddha. How many such institutions had made a Siddha of someone? On the contrary, a dwelling of a Siddha becomes an institution. People and dwellings mushroom around him. Temples are consecrated in his name. But the true master knows very well the dangers and moves away from being caught in the web that springs around him. As we learned in the documentary film "Samadhi - The Pathless Path", 

"Enlightenment is about letting go of all the practices done earlier. You must be willing to let go of the practice once it has served its purpose otherwise you will just create an identity around it and a new spiritual self-structure (that replaces our earlier self-structure.)" 

They shun publicity and fear the identity that people tag them with. Ramalinga Adigal never approved his followers calling him Swamigal. The Siddhas loved nature. They were one with it. Hence we understand why they chose to stay in the woods and jungles. I too was blessed to be brought into the jungles by Tavayogi who preferred that I had practical knowledge rather than academic knowledge about the ways of the Siddhas. Balamurugan in recounting his trip to Mount Kailash tells us that nature is the best tool to break one's ego. Faced with the magnanimous and majestic beauty of the mount, one is immediately humbled. We begin to realize how small we are before nature, he says. The towering mountains and trees, the huge boulders and rock, the vast streams and rivers, all energized and living move us to want to live too. Moves us to want to join them in their flow. Moves us to want to join in their dance of joy. Nature is forever joyous. The wind that brushes our faces forces us to inhale the fresh air that in turn erupts a chain of reaction in us as its energy and prana traverse throughout our body into every single cell bringing on a chillness that is all so mesmerizing. 

Learning the basics, a seeker turned sadhaka has to take the bull by the horn. He has to start worship of the Siddhas, recite the names of the Siddhas, recite the mantras, light the sacrificial fire, do libation to their statues, read up their ancient texts, etc. Then he moves on to find his "Self". If he does not move out he will end up serving the master till the master's end or his end. Or he might even envy the post left vacant by his master's demise. Or he might then decide to leave finding the beacon of bliss-light gone. 

A Malaysian whom I chanced to meet at Kallar ashram when I visited India with my family in 2013, vented his frustration to me. He had left in search of the Siddha teachings at 25 years of age. Having traveled and stayed at numerous ashrams he finally arrived at Tavayogi's Kallar ashram. He told me he had finally found his resting place. As he had nothing nice to say of the former institutions I figured it would only be a matter of time when he would leave Kallar too. True to my intuition I met him later in Malaysia. One's "Self" is not found in such institutions but found in silent contemplation. Man should learn to gather the tools and begin to toil on his own plot of land. Only then does he see the results of his hard effort. That plot of land is within him where no one can enter or trespass. That space is meant for his guru and him to sit in silence and enjoy the moments of bliss that erupts by "simply being in the presence of such a being".

It is said that Lord Dhakshanamurthi would answer all the questions put forth by the four disciples of his. This went on for years and there seemed no end to questions. Finally, the Lord chose to remain quiet. Seeing their guru sitting still the devotees simply fell into a state of meditation. The Mouna guru teaches in silence. Bhagawan Ramana is said to do this too. He had someone sit and face the wall for hours. It was meant to shed whatever questions, doubts, thoughts, opinions, views, perspectives, and other garbage, that he had carried all his life.

"Silence is the greatest teaching. The purest teaching. The purest teachings are transmitted in silence. One becomes equanimous with what is. Surrender to what is. Attentive to what is." In saying thus, the narrator of the documentary gives us an account of Buddha's life. 

"Rather than giving a long satsang or teaching with words, Buddha just let the students sit with a flower for the entire time. Only one student received the transmission. Only one student got it. To receive such a subtle transmission requires a subtle mind." 

In an article on the net, we read,

As an individual begins to be liberated from the influence of the mind-stuff, the divine attributes of the atman or self manifest in the very subtle sheath of bliss (Anandamaya kosha) that surrounds the soul (atman).

Here then arises the need for us to shift from the gross to the subtler. The Siddhas teach just that. Nay, they make it happen, pushing those who they believe they can work on and letting go of others to come around after they begin to fulfill their heart's desires and realize the futility of all their ventures in the material world.

When the transformation of that very subtle part of the being has been given fully to the divine, the individual becomes literally a beacon of bliss-light. Simply being in the presence of such a being is uplifting. Such an elevated individual is often acknowledged as a saint.